Out of balance golf club for putting



Feb. 24, 1970 s. T. SCOTT OUT OF BALANCE GOLF CLUB FOR PUTTING Filed June 8. 1965 United States Patent 3,497,220 OUT OF BALANCE GOLF CLUB FOR PUTTING Elmer T. Scott, late of Worcester, Mass., by Lillian M. Scott, executrix of said Elmer T. Scott, deceased Filed June 8, 1965, Ser. No. 462,246 The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Feb. 24, 1986, has been disclaimed and dedicated to the Public Int. Cl. A63b 53/14, 53/04 US. Cl. 273-813 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A golf club having a shaft provided at one end with a straight hand grip and connected at the other end through a hosel to the rear of a head, the heel and the toe of the head being on opposite sides of the center line of the hand grip, and said head having a weighted condition which locates its center of gravity on the heel side of said center line and causes the club when held loosely off the ground but near a stroke position to be so oriented that the impact face of the head is substantially vertical and at right angles to the direction of stroke. This weighted condition may be provided by bending the lower end of the shaft or by means of a weight on the shaft located on the heel side of the center line.

This invention relates to a golf club and more particularly to a putter which is so constructed that it tends automatically, when held loosely, to assume the proper position of alignment relative to the direction of stroke.

It has been proposed heretofore that the center of gravity of the golf stick head should be aligned with the axis of the shaft where it is gripped by the player. Such a construction requires that the player be skillful enough to position the striking face of the golf head at right angles to the line of putt. A slight error of judgement required for positioning the golf stick head can defeat the intended purpose of the stroke.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a putter in which the golf club shaft has a hand grip at one end and a laterally projecting putter head which is connected at its heel by a hosel to the other end of the shaft, and wherein said head has an integral weighted portion which locates the center of gravity of the head on the heel side of the center line of the hand grip and provides an out of balance condition which causes the head, when the club is held loosely by the player near a stroke position but off the ground, to orient under the influence of gravity to a position where the heel is down and the toe points away from the player and its impact face is positioned substantially vertically at right angles to the direction of the stroke. Other objects will be readily apparent.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of this invention:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the club when held in substantially the correct position for a stroke;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of the lower portion of the golf club taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of the top of the club head, when the shaft is held horizontally, which shows the pendulum effect of the force of gravity; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the stance of a golfer and the correct position of the putter head for propelling the ball into the cup.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the golf club comprises a head having a toe portion 11 and a heel portion 12 and which is connected by a hosel member 14 to the shaft 15 of the golf club. The latter has at its upper end a suitable hand grip 19 shaped as desired for gripping of the putter. The lower section which includes the striking head 10 is made of a metal casting suitably mounted by a piloted portion 17 inserted into the hollow metal shaft 15. If, according to the prior art, the center of gravity of the head 10 coincides with the center line AA of the upper hand grip of the shaft, then it is necessary for the golf player to use skill in positioning the striking face of the head for driving the ball in the required direction. This, however, is difficult.

In accordance with my invention, I so weight the heel portion of the head that it tends to swing the head into a correct position for the stroke. That is, the longitudinal center plane 18 of the head is oriented by gravity to a vertical position. This brings the striking face 20 into correct alignment for driving the ball in the intended direction.

Although the putter head may be variously shaped and weighted, and any out of balance condition may not be readily apparent, yet for the sake of clarity of illustration I have shown it as comprising a weight distribution projection 24 attached preferably to the upper portion of an S-shaped hosel 14 which connects the rear of the heel 12 to the shaft 15. This weight 24 serves to locate the center of gravity 25 of the head on the heel side, or at the right in FIG. 1, of the center line AA of the hand grip portion 19 of the shaft. Thus when the club is held loosely near a stroke position but off the ground, the weight 24 will swing the head automatically to a position where the center plane 18 will be substantially vertical and the impact face 20 at right angles to the direction of stroke. That impact face 20, as shown in FIG. 2, will be at a slight angle to a vertical plane in order to give an upward lift or over-spin to the ball 29. It will be noted, as shown in FIG. 2, that the two faces 20 may make symmetrical angles with the center plane 18 of the head, so that the club may be used by either a right handed or a left handed player.

The amount of added weight of part 24 may be small ascompared with the total weight of the head 10 and only sufficient to urge the head into the directional position above indicated. The correct point of impact of the ball may be determined by holding the club loosely in a horizontal position and tapping the head to find the point of minimum swing or vibration. This determines the center of gravity of the head and its location relative to the center line AA. It will be appreciated, as above indicated, that the extra weight may be built into the heel portion of the putter head so that any change of shape over the standard forms does not disturb the player. The main purpose is to make the heel portion heavier than the toe portion relative to the center line AA of the shaft, so that the head will orient automatically into a suitable puter position relative to the stance of the player when the club is held loosely near a putting position.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the shaft 15 may be curved slightly, whether or not the weight 24 is employed, to bring the center of gravity 25 of the head 10 on the heel side of the center line AA of the hand grip. The curve of the shaft lies in the center plane 18 of the head. The radius of the curve may be as desired, but a line 27 form ing the center line of the lower portion of the shaft below the part 17 and intersecting the line AA at 26 and which is parallel to a tangent to that curve may make an angle B at 26 of from about 5 to 25 with the center line AA of the hand grip portion 19. This curve in the shaft locates the center of gravity of the putter head on the heel side of the center line AA and causes the head to orient to a proper putting position as above described. When the weight 24 is used, that angle may be zero or not over about 25.

As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4, if the golf player stands as indicated by the foot prints in the figure and holds his club loosely near a playing position but off the ground, the head will swing to a position where its center plane 18 will be vertical. That is, the weighted portion 24 will cause the center of gravity 25 of the head to lie at the rear of the line A-A of the hand grip portion of the club. The driving face of the club will lie substantially at an angle of 90 relative to the line of stroke. The swing of the golf club shaft is to be aligned with the correct line of drive, so that if the surface of the putting green is satisfactory the ball 28 should be propelled in the direction of the cup 29 as indicated.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made in this construction within the scope of this invention; hence the above disclosure is to be interpreted as setting forth the principles of the invention and a preferred structure without imposing limitations on the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club comprising a putter head, a shaft having a hand grip, the center line of the hand grip being straight and passing through the head, said head having a ball impact face and a toe and a heel on opposite sides of said center line, and a hosel member extending from the rearmost extremity of the heel and connecting the heel to the lower end of the shaft, said head and hosel member having their weight so distributed that the center of gravity thereof is located on the heel side of said center line and provides an out of balance condition causing the head to orient under the influence of gravity to a position where the heel is down and the toe points away from the player angles to the direction of stroke, when the club is held loosely near a stroke position but off the ground.

2. A golf club comprising a putter head, a shaft hav-- ing a hand grip, the center line of the hand grip being straight and passing through the head, said head having a ball impact face and a toe and a heel on opposite sides of said center line, and a hosel member extending from the rearmost extremity of the heel and connecting the heel to the lower end of the shaft, said shaft having a slight curve in the vertical plane of the longitudinal center line of the head so shaped that a tangent to the curve makes an angle of not over 25 degrees with the center line of the hand grip, said head being oriented under the influence of gravity to a position where the heel is down and the toe points away from the player and the impact face is substantially vertical and at right angles to the direction of stroke, when the club is held loosely near a stroke position but off the ground.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,066,936 12/1962 Hyde 273 ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner RICHARD J. APLEY, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 27380, 167 

